Rail retaining tie plate



Maich 28, 1939. I H. G. WARR 29,152,337

RAIL RETAINING TIE PLATE Filed Sept. 21, 1956 5 0 94 I Im/er I zfiflorniey Patented Mar. 28 1939 iUNZITIZED STATES creme I RETAINING-TIE PLATE 'Harold"G.'Warr, Park Ridge, IlLyass'ignor, "by mesne assignments, toPo'or -& Company, a corporation of Delaware Applicationseptember 21 .1936; Serial-No. 101,7 96

' 11 Claims. (G11 238 -30 1) This invention relates to improvements in rail retaining tie plate structures.

The combination structures to which the present invention appertains maybe described generally as consisting of a supporting plate having one or more upstanding ribs adapted to serve as lateral abutments for the base of a rail, and rail retaining means associated with the abutments and overlying the said railbase to restrain the vertical and/or longitudinal movements of the rail relative to the plate. In some of the constructions abovereferred to, the upstanding ribs on the rail supporting plates have been formed with horizontal flanges turned either inwardly, to overlie the rail base, or outwardly to support separately formed rail-retaining members. In other constructions the abutment ribs have been formed relatively high and provided with openings therethrough-to receive the retaining members, or the retaining members have been secured in openings extending through the base plate or have been held "in place by rail spikes or other fastening means extending through the plates and into the underlying crossties.

While the above constructions present substantial merit over the old forms of rail chairs and fastenings, none of them have been entirely satisfactory. The base plate structures having horizontal flanges formed on their upstanding abutment ribs are often difficult and expensive to manufacture, since the formation of the horizontal flanges require rather intricate rolling mill operation. When the rail retaining members are inserted through openings formed'in the upstanding ribs of a base plate, the said ribs must necessarily be made relatively high and'thereby add to the'weight 'and expenseof the plate as well as the additional labor required to form the lateral openings in the vertical ribs. The constructions having vertical openings in the plate to receive the rail-retaining members or their fastening devices do not provide the desired rigidity of the engagement of the several parts of the assembly and in many cases expose the underlying cross ties to deterioration by reason of the collection of water and dirt in the said vertical openings in the plate.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a rail-retaining tie plate which will overcome the above mentioned and other incidental objections presented by the rail-retaining tie plates of the constructions above referred to and to provide also a combination-structure of the :aboveicharacterwhichcan'be formed by relatively simple and inexpensive rolling mill operations.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a combination rail-retaining tie plate structure in which the rail-retaining element 'overliesa portion "of a rail base and is adapted to be :driven longitudinally of the rail into firm interlocking engagement with the base plate element of said structure.

Another object is to provide a base plate having spaced ribs thereonwhich converge toward their upper edges to provide surfaces for interlocking engagement with separately formed rail-retaining members; the said ribs being formed to provide suitable resilience to hold the rail-retainin members in their applied position.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description of the invention illustrated in certain specific embodiments in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. l isa plan view of a rail-retaining tie plate made in accordance with this invention, the said structure being shown secured to a cross tie and supporting a fragmentary portion of a rail.

Fig.2- is a cross section-taken on line 2-2 of Fig- 3-isa fragmentary plan view of one end of a modified embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of another modification which might be embodied in either of the-constructions shown in Figs. 1 or 3, and

Fig. 5 illustrates a further modified embodiment.

wReferring first to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2--of the drawing:

- Ill designates aportion of a railroad rail, II ,aportion of'oneof the underlying cross ties, on which the rail is supported, and I2 designates a rail-retaining-tie plate constructed in accordancewith the invention and interposed between the base portion of the rail and the top-surface of the cross tie.

The plate 12 is formed of rolled metal and is provided with a central rail seatportion l3 which may be flat or of any suitable camber and/or inclination. At either side of the seat portion I3 is a pair of ribs which define channels |4I5 extending across the full-Width of the plate. The ribs defining the channel M are designated l 4a Mb and those defining channel I5 are designated l5a- .|5b. The ribs of each pair are'bent toward each other so that the lateral walls of the channel defined thereby converge upwardly and inwardly toward each other, as indicated in Fig. 2 :of the drawing. Theaupper edges of the intermediate portions 16 of the ribs are preferably parallel and are bent inwardly a greater distance than the end portions I '|-l8 so that the walls of the channel, in addition to converging vertically, also converge from opposite ends toward the middle of the plate. With this construction the end portions of each channel I l-l5 provide for easy entrance of rail securing means I 9-- l9 which members are adapted, by their constru tions hereinafter described, to interlock with the walls of the said channels. Inasmuch as the inner ribs l-ia l5a. serve as lateral abutments for the rail, they are preferably of greater height than the edge thickness of the rail base, for which the base plate is made. The lateral bending of the said inner ribs, especially at their opposite ends, is confined largely to the upper edges of the ribs so that a greater portion of their height will be substantially perpendicular to the base plate and thereby provide vertical surface abutments 20-420 for the rail. The outer ribs l4bl 5b may be of less height than the inner ribs and bent laterally throughout their entire height.

The rail-retaining members l9-l9 each consists of a head portion adapted to seat on the upper edges of adjacent ribs of the plate so as to overlie a longitudinal edge of a rail base positioned on the plate. The head is preferably, though'not necessarily, formed to provide suita ble clearance 2| between its bottom surface and. the top surface of the rail base so as to permit slight vertical movement of the rail relative to the base plate. The under portion of the head is formed with a lug 22, the cross section of which conforms substantially to the cross-sectional contour of the channel in which it is retained.

In operation, the base plate I2 is secured rigidly to the cross tie II by means of any suitable fastening devices, for example, screw spikes 9. The depending lugs 22 of the rail-retaining members l9l 9 are inserted into the tapered end portions .of channels 14-15 and are driven lengthwise The upwardly converging relation of the ribs together with the downwardly increasing width of the retaining member lugs provides interlocking engagements which prevent vertical movement of the retaining members relative to the base plate.

In the modification shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing, the ribs l5cl5d on the base plate 12a. do not converge lengthwise of the ribs, as shown Y in Fig. l, but, on the contrary, extend parallel throughout their entire length. In other respects the form and arrangement of said ribs may be and preferably are the same as the ribs shown and described in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing. By forming the ribs l5cl5d parallel, the railretaining members may be driven into interlocking engagement with the converging inner walls of the ribs at any location longitudinally of the ribs.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4, the outer rib 23 of the base plate is relatively low and its inner face 24 is perpendicular to the base plate. The upper edge of the inner rail abutment rib 25 isbent outwardly so as tooverlie and interlock with inner face 26 of the rail-retaining member lug 21. The difference in the heights of the ribs of this embodiment and likewise of the other embodiments previously described, is compensated for by forming the outer edge 28 of the railretaining member head of greater thickness than the portion thereof which overlies the rail base and bears against the inner or higher rib.

In the construction shown in Fig. 5, the upstanding ribs 29 and 30 of the tieplate are shown as having the same cross sectional contour as the ribs l4al4h of Fig. 2, but are preferably spaced further apart so as to accommodate a resilient rail retaining clip 3|. The said ribs may be parallel throughout their entire length, as shown in Fig. 3, or they may converge lengthwise, as shown in Fig. l. The rail retaining clip 3| is made, preferably, of spring steel. It comprises angularly disposed end portions 32-33 adapted to seat on the upper edges of the ribs 29 and 30, and a downwardly bowed portion 34 which fits in the space between said ribs so as to interlock with their upwardly converging inner faces. The end portion 32 of the clip is of suflicient length to overlie the top surface of the rail base 35 and thereby serves to restrain excessive upward movement of the rail base relative to the tie plate. The said clip is driven lengthwise of the ribs 2930 to its applied position in substantially the same manner as described in connection with the preceding forms. The downwardly bowed portion 34 of the clip exerts resilient pressure against the inner faces of the ribs 29-30 so as to hold the clip firmly in, its applied position.

The modifications illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 of the drawing show the base plate and rib constructions at one end only of the respective plates. It isto be understood, however, that the other ends of said modified plates are, in each case, provided with corresponding constructions,

I claim:

1. A rail-retaining tie plate comprising, in combination, a rolled metal base plate having a seat portion for a rail and formed at either side of the seat with a pair of ribs which extend longitudinally of the seat, the upper edges of the ribs of each pair being bent toward each other at angles which progressively increase relative to the base for a portion of their length, and rail-retaining members provided with portions supported on said ribs and overlying the longitudinal edges of the rail base positioned on the plate and formed with means adapted to extend between said ribs of the plate and movable lengthwise of the ribs portions thereof whereby the retaining members are held interlocked with the upper edges and inner surfaces of said'ribs.

2. A rail-retaining tie plate comprising, in combination, a base plate having a seat for a rail and formed at one side of the seat'with a pair of ribs, and a rail holding member movable lengthwise of said ribs into binding interlocking engagement with the upper edges and the opposing faces of said ribs; said holding member being formed with a portion overlying the base portion of a. rail posipair of ribs, the inner rib of each pair being higher than the other, and a plurality of rail holding members movable lengthwise of said ribs into binding interlocking engagement therewith; the said holding members being formed with portions overlying the base portion of a rail positioned on the plate and having depending lugs which increase in width toward their lower ends, and the inner rib of each pair being formed with a perpendicular rail abutting portion bent outwardly at its upper end at an angle which progressively varies relative to the rail seat and overlies a portion of the depending lug of the holding member to provide said interlocking engagement.

4. A rail-retaining tie plate comprising in combination, a base plate having a seat for a rail and formed at one side of the seat with a pair of ribs, and a clip member movable lengthwise of said ribs into binding interlocking engagement therewith; the said clip being formed with a portion overlying the base portion of a rail positioned on the plate and having a'depending lug which increases in width toward the lower end, and the lower portion of the inner rib being formed perpendicular to the plate to provide a vertical abutment for the adjacent edge of the rail base and having its upper edge turned outwardly at an angle which progressively increases for a portion of its length relative to the rail seat and overlies a portion of the depending lug of the clip to provide said interlocking engagement.

5. A rail-retaining tie plate comprising, in combination, a rolled metal base plate having a seat for a rail and formed at one side of the seat with a pair of upwardly converging resilient ribs defining a channel extending across the plate, and a rail holding member supported on the upper edge portion of said ribs and having a portion adapted to overlie the base of a rail positioned on said seat and having a depending portion which conforms substantially to the cross-sectional area of said channel and adapted to be moved longitudinally thereof into binding interlocking engagement with the opposing faces of said ribs.

6. A rail-retaining tie plate comprising, in combination, a rolled metal base plate having a seat for a rail and formed at either side of the seat with a pair of ribs, one of each pair being resilient and bent toward the other to define a channel, the walls of which converge both vertically and lengthwise of the ribs, and a rail holding member having a portion adapted to overlie an edge of a rail base positoned on said plate and formed alsowith a portion for insertion in said channel and movable longitudinally thereof into binding interlocking engagement with the said converging walls.

7. A rail-retaining tie plate comprising, in combination, a rolled metal base plate having a seat for a rail and formed at one side of the seat with a pair of ribs bent toward each other at angles which progressively increase relative to the base for a portion of the length of the ribs to define a channel, the walls of which converge both vertically and lengthwise of the ribs, the outer rib being of less height than the inner rib, and a rail holding member being adapted to seat on 'said ribs and having a portion overlying an edge portion of the rail seat and formed also with a portion for insertion in said channel and movable longitudinally thereof into binding interlocking engagement with the said converging walls.

8. A rail-retaining tie plate comprising, in combination, a rolled metal base plate having a seat for a rail and formed at one side of the seat with a pair of ribs bent toward each other at angles which progressively increase relative to the base for a portion of the length of the ribs to define a channel, the walls of which converge both Vertically and lengthwise of the ribs, and a rail holding member having a portion overlying an edge of the rail seat and formed also with a portion for insertion in said channel and movable longitudinally thereof into binding interlocking engagement with the said converging walls.

9. A rail-retaining tie plate comprising, in combination, a rolled metal base plate having a seat for a rail and formed at one side of the seat with a pair of ribs bent to project upwardly toward each other and define a channel, the walls of which converge upwardly, the rib adjacent to the seat having a perpendicular rail abutting portion; and a resilient rail holding member adapted to seat on the upper edges of the ribs and having an arm overlying one edge of the rail seat and formed with a portion for insertion in said channel and movable lengthwise thereof into binding locking engagement with the said converging walls.

10. A rail-retaining tie plate comprising, in combination, a rolled metal base plate having a seat for a rail and formed at one side of the seat with a pair of ribs bent toward each other to define a channel, the walls of which converge upwardly, the rib adjacent to said rail seat having a perpendicular rail abutting portion; and a rail holding member comprising a bowed spring metal member adapted to seat on the upper edges of the ribs having a portion overlying an edge of the rail seat and formed also with a portion adapted to fit resiliently in the channel formed by said upstanding ribs, whereby the spring member is retained in resilient interlocking engagement with the upper edges and the inner walls of said ribs.

11. A rail-retaining tie plate comprising, in combination, a rolled metal plate having a seat for a rail and formed ,at one side of the seat with a pair of ribs bent toward each other to define a channel, the walls of which converge upwardly, a resilient rail holding member comprising a spring metal element bowed downwardly intermediate its ends to provide a portion for interlocking engagement with the converging walls of said channel, the end portions of said spring metal element being turned in opposite directions to provide portions for overlying a portion of the rail seat and for bearing upon the upper edges of said ribs.

HAROLD G. WAR-R. 

